ESPN Boston reports that the Celtics are set to sign free agent center Jason Collins to a veteran-minimum deal.

The 33-year-old Collins appeared in just 30 games last season for the Atlanta Hawks. Billed as the “Dwight Stopper,” Collins isn’t an elite defender but among veteran centers, he’s nothing to sneeze at. He’s able to maintain position and body even players of Howard’s size and while he brings nothing to the table offensively, he’s still a significant upgrade for the Celtics at center.

If Fab Melo proves unready for the NBA game, which is more than a small probability at this point, it allows the Celtics to send him for seasoning in the D-League without having to play Kevin Garnett exclusively at center. It’s not going to make a huge difference, but with Greg Stiemsma signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves, this helps with Boston keeping a stable bench rotation and gives them someone in case Dwight Howard crosses their paths in the playoffs for some reason.

The Celtics’ bench was a major issue last year but looks to be much improved next season, not just with Melo and Jared Sullinger, but Jason Terry (despite the loss of Ray Allen), Brandon Bass returning, and Jeff Green coming back. A front-heavy team has a better reserve system. One more run for the old guys.

He told plenty of people – including the Pacers – he planned to leave for the Lakers in the summer of 2018. Even after the Thunder traded for him, George spoke of the lure of playing for his hometown team.

Of course, George also left the door open to re-signing with Oklahoma City. He proclaimed he’d be dumb to leave if the Thunder reached the conference finals or upset the Warriors.

So far, Oklahoma City (12-14) doesn’t even look like a playoff lock, let alone a team capable of knocking off Golden State or reaching the conference finals. So, cue the inevitable speculation.

Do these executives have inside information into George’s thinking, or are they just speculating based on already-available information? Some executives are incentivized to drum up the Lakers threat, because they want to trade for George themselves now. If these executives insist George will leave for Los Angeles regardless, they might pry him from Oklahoma City for less.

There’s also a theory George is hyping his desire to sign with the Lakers so a team would have to trade less for him. That got him to the Thunder for what looked like a meager return (but hasn’t been). It might get him to a more favorable situation before the trade deadline without hampering his next team long-term. Of course, this theory isn’t mutually exclusive with George actually signing in Los Angeles. It could just get him better options to choose from this summer.

Surely, the Thunder are trying to parse all this noise. If their season doesn’t turn around, they should explore flipping George rather than risk losing him for nothing next summer. But they should also be wary that he’ll bolt for Los Angeles at first opportunity just because rival executives predict it.